Fair Game

Fair Game looks at the fight for fair treatment of transgender athletes and makes the case that trans and cis athletes can share the field. LGBTQ athletes are breaking barriers at the Olympics, yet transgender people still face heavy restrictions in many places. According to the book, twenty-four states have passed anti-trans sports legislation in the last two years, so nearly half of all Americans now live under laws that limit or ban transgender participation.

The book argues that wider acceptance matters both for athletes chasing an Olympic dream and for any family whose child simply wants to sign up for the local soccer league. It looks at what sports mean in the lives of transgender youth and adults, drawing on many voices to give a nuanced picture of the trans athletic experience. Those personal accounts, from a marginalized community, are woven together through the chapters.

Alongside the stories, the author examines the fear and the gender stereotypes that sit beneath anti-trans laws. She also supplies historical and political background on sex segregation in sport and explains how bodies, trans bodies included, actually function in athletic competition. The aim is to picture a sporting world beyond current assumptions, one where people can move freely and joyfully.